


Shake it like a ladder to the sun

by dannyphantomyeetme



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Anxiety Disorder, Car Accidents, Codependency, College, College Danny, College Years, Coming of Age, Danny Fenton Needs A Hug, Dorks in Love, Eating Disorders, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Ghosts, Growing Up, Happy Ending, Life - Freeform, M/M, Maddie Jack and Vlad are dating, Marriage Proposal, Mental Health Issues, Non-Explicit Sex, Sad, Suicide Attempt, Therapy, Wes Weston needs a hug, bettering yourself, figuring out a relationship, hit and run
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:53:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25316371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dannyphantomyeetme/pseuds/dannyphantomyeetme
Summary: In college, people learn to figure themselves out. Danny and Wes are no exceptions.
Relationships: Danny Fenton/Wesley Weston, Wesley Weston/Original Character(s)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 41





	1. Freshman year

**Author's Note:**

> This story can be... triggering. Be sure to check the tags. You've been warned. (Don't worry, the ending is happy.)
> 
> The line ‘shake it like a ladder to the sun’ is taken from the song ‘Zero’ by Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I’m not sure if it really fits this fic, but I listened to it on repeat while writing, so it might be worth a listen.

That first year after high school is the worst.

Danny feels listless. He exists only for ghost fighting and handing in assignments for the online courses he's following. He's not exactly excelling at those, and the only reason he hasn't quit yet is that his mom and Jazz insist he keep at it--but the ghosts are more active; more relentless than they've ever been. Danny wakes up exhausted, gets through his coursework exhausted, goes to bed exhausted, and then wakes up in the middle of the night to fight ghosts exhausted.

His parents, even Vlad, try to help, but the more ghosts they put back in the ghost zone, the more ghosts come out.

And without his friends to keep him grounded, Danny feels less-than-human most of the time. At first, they try to talk every night, but then they all seem to get busy, and once a night turns into once a week turns into "when possible".

Wes is more insistent on keeping up a steady stream of communication, and Danny is at the same time grateful and resentful. Wes doesn't always have time to facetime or even call, either, so most of their conversations happen over text, late at night (early morning for Wes) when Danny wants nothing more than to pass out, but won't let himself because when else will they talk?

Eventually, the gratefulness starts to fade away completely, and the resentment is all that Danny feels: _Wes_ got to leave. _Wes_ is building a life. Danny is stuck, and he's always gonna be stuck.

Then, he's not even angry anymore. He just feels… empty. He doesn't fight as hard, doesn't stay up to wait for Wes's good morning text, doesn't even talk to his friends anymore and forgets to text Wes back half the time.

It's only a matter of time before he slips up. It's not even a high-level ghost that gets him to that point: she's a relative unknown. Danny's fought her maybe twice before, but he doesn't know her name or what her goal is, other than to cause mayhem for the sake of it.

She lashes out and he's too late to dodge if anyone asks, but truly he just doesn't have the energy.

Later, he won't remember much of what happened after: just darkness, shouting, the occasional blurry image of his parents and Vlad frantically patching him up. It gets bad enough that they call Jazz, Sam, Tucker, and Wes. One time, he doesn't know how much time has passed, he does think he hears Wes talking to him (angry. He sounds angry) but he thinks he's dreaming until he wakes up and finds his friends asleep around him--Wes on the bed next to him, on top of the covers. Jazz in a chair. Sam slumped over his desk where notes and unfinished assignments serve as her pillow (God, his room is more of a mess than it's ever been), and Tucker, unceremoniously, on the floor.

Danny doesn't know how long they've been here, what classes they're missing, how much money they've wasted flying back here. He feels so, so guilty.

It's that, more than the constant, throbbing pain around his chest and midriff, which makes him start to cry.

"Hey, hey," Wes says, immediately awake and reaching out to him, feather-light touches trailing across his body. "What's wrong? Where does it hurt?"

And now the others are waking up, too, and they all look so tired, and Danny can only shake his head and cry more.

Yeah, that first year is bad. So bad it almost kills him.

Sam and Tucker have to fly back soon after Danny wakes up, relieved that he'll survive. Jazz stays around a little longer, but eventually goes back to Boston and her apartment and her life, making him promise to call her if he needs " _anything, little brother. I mean it!_ " Wes, surprisingly, stays around the longest, fussing over him and cleaning up his room and talking to him, _at_ him, even when he can't bring himself to say anything back.

It's uncharacteristic, how gentle Wes is with him. There's no sarcasm, not a hint of any kind of a joke in anything he says, and Danny hates it.

"I want you to leave," he says, after two weeks, interrupting Wes mid-sentence.

Wes is talking to him about college, about e-mailing his professor to ask for another extension. They all think he's home for a 'family emergency' and Danny has a feeling of _wrongness_ because he's not worth all this. He's not an emergency. He's _fine_ now, mostly healed, and he doesn't understand why Wes still seems to be so worried.

"And I- What?" Wes's head snaps towards him. He stares at Danny like he's grown two heads. "What do you mean?"

"You shouldn't be here, Wes. You should be at school."

"Danny, do you realize how close you came to dying?"

"Yeah, but I'm fine now. You can go."

"You're _not_ fine," Wes says. It's the first time he's raised his voice at Danny since getting here. "Did you even try to protect yourself?"

"Are you saying I got hurt on purpose?" Danny asks. There's no fight in his voice, and Wes's shoulders slump.

"No."

"I didn't mean to get hurt."

"Of course you didn't," Wes says. "Of course not. That's not what I meant."

Neither of them says anything for a moment, and Danny realizes how okay he is with that silence. Tears start dripping down his cheeks without his say-so.

"I'm so tired, Wes."

"Come with me," Wes says, urgently. "We can get a place. We'll get jobs. You can follow your online stuff from anywhere. Let somebody else worry about all this ghost stuff for a while."

"You know I can't do that."

"You _can_ ," Wes says. "Danny, please, you _have to._ "

But he can't. He doesn't know how to explain the mental block, the pure unadulterated rage and fear that he feels when he thinks of leaving Amity Park for more than a couple of days. It's the first time in ages he's felt anything at all.

The people here _need_ him. He _has_ to protect them or die trying.

"You _know_ ," Wes says, sounding defeated. "You know you could die. You just don't care, do you?"

When Wes leaves, two days later, Danny doesn't know if they're still together.


	2. Summer one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes comes home for the summer. Things are normal... mostly.

They haven't talked for three months when Wes shows up at Danny's doorstep.

Maddie lets him in, so Danny's startled when Wes is standing in his room, looking around like he's drinking in the familiar sight of home.

Not much has changed, Danny knows. He's got a new NASA poster, but that's it.

He pulls out an earphone. Linkin Park is suddenly audible through the room. It seems to break the spell Wes is under.

"Hey," he says.

"Hey," Danny says, question apparent in his voice: _What are you doing here?_

"I was bored," Wes says, like it's an admission. Then: "Sam won't say a word about you. Says she doesn't wanna get involved in our 'shit'."

Danny chuckles. It's been the same on his end. 

"Are you okay?" Wes asks, and Danny nods because he is.

The ghosts have calmed down, it's summer, and he's… not different, he hasn't fundamentally changed, but not as depressed as he was--because he definitely was. He can see that now.

"I miss you," Wes says, another admission.

And just like that, they hit the reset button.

The next month is like it used to be: they watch movies and play video games and hang out with their friends until too late in the night and make out and have a _lot_ of sex. They even take a weekend trip to lake Eerie under the guise of 'monster hunting', but really they just end up stargazing and talking, and pawing at each other with an unfiltered sense of urgency not unlike when they were sixteen and new at _everything_.

Danny has the sense that they're gonna be fine even in the fall, but Wes must think otherwise because one night he turns onto his side so he's facing Danny, reaches out to trail his fingers along the scar that runs like lightning up Danny's chest, and says:

"So I've been looking into transferring."

Danny's half-asleep. They're in Wes's room, Wes's parents are either still at Wes's aunt's or have come home very quietly. The room is thick with heat that is almost suffocating to Danny’s ice core, making it work on overdrive, but it’s been this warm all summer, and he’s gotten used to it.

“Hmm?” he asks, blinking his eyes open. “Transferring what?”

“Where, you mean,” Wes says. “Amity’s community college has got a pretty good paranormal program. Maddie and Jack helped set it up themselves.”

Danny is fully awake immediately. He sits up.

“You’ve been talking to my parents about this?”

“I could be done in one year instead of three,” Wes goes on, sitting up as well. “They say I could work for them, after, maybe even intern with them during. We could get a place-”

“Oh, you’ve just got it _all_ figured out?” Danny asks. He feels somewhat angry, but also worried. “Madison was your dream. What happened?”

“I miss you,” Wes says.

Danny sees it for what it is: a weak excuse.

“No,” he says, firmly.

Now, it’s Wes’s turn to look angry.

“Don’t you want me around?” Wes asks. “I mean, don’t you want me to come home?”

“Of course I do,” Danny says. “Don’t even ask me that.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

Danny doesn’t know how to explain in words what he’s thinking: This last year has been the worst year of his life, but it’s also made him see with perfect clarity something that he wasn’t able to see before. He thought he’d learned to love himself, but he’d just learned to love who he was with Wes around.

Because Wes has been there, always, since they were fifteen, arms open and ready to catch Danny after every slip-up, and Danny has relied on it too much. What happened four months ago wasn’t _about_ Wes, but it never would have gotten that far if Wes had been around.

And that’s _wrong_. Wes is not responsible for Danny. Danny needs to figure his shit out on his own. He needs to be able to catch _himself_ and he _won’t_ have Wes take on that role. He won’t have Wes give up his dreams and move home to take care of Danny.

“Danny?” Wes asks.

He looks sad, and Danny never, ever wants him to look that way because of him.

But he does, all the time.

“Wes,” he says, firmly. “It’s not your job to take care of me.”

“That’s not what it felt like when you-” Wes cuts himself off, as if afraid to bring up what happened.

Danny decides it’s his job to call it what it was.

“I wanted to die,” he says. “I wanted her to kill me.”

Wes tenses, all muscles and lean limbs. He was always an athlete, but he’s become more filled-out over the last year.

“See? That’s why I should be here.”

“No,” Danny says again. “I love you, so much. I do.” He bites his lip, looks away. “You need to go back to college, and chase your dream, and be my frustrating, far away boyfriend who I miss and who misses me and who I can’t talk to enough, and I need to be here and figure out how to be okay without you around to make me feel like I matter.”

“I don’t wanna lose you,” Wes says.

This time it’s Danny who reaches out. Danny who wraps Wes up in his arms. It would probably look awkward to anyone else. Danny’s taller than he used to be, but still in that awkward phase where his muscles seem to not know whether they’re gonna fill out or not. He looks very much like the kid he still feels like he is. He can’t even grow stubble, and Wes has to shave every day or deal with five-o’clock-shadow that, honestly, isn’t anything to complain about.

Danny doesn’t wanna make promises he can’t keep. He could die any day. Dora could slam him into a building too hard and that could be it.

“I’m not gonna kill myself,” Danny says. “Okay? I’m not gonna die on purpose.”

“Okay,” Wes says. He sounds like he’s trying not to cry. “I’d be really mad if you did.”

“I know.”

“Fucking furious.” He sniffs.

“I’m so sorry I scared you,” Danny says. “I’m so sorry, baby.”

Three weeks later, Wes has to fly back to college. Danny goes with him to the airport, kisses him until his lips are numb, presses his forehead against Wes’s, and tries to soak in the familiarity of his boyfriends’ touch. He wants to remember every second of it. He doesn’t care that Wes’s parents are watching.

“I’ll see you soon,” Wes promises. “I love you, hero.”

“I love you too,” Danny says. “Go kick college’s ass.”

On the drive back, Wes’s dad babbles at Danny while Wes’s mom ignores him, and Danny tries not to dread the coming months.

He can do this, he thinks. They both can.


	3. Sophomore year

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny finds out more than he bargained for when he visits Wes at college.

Danny doesn’t know whether his life has actually calmed down, or if he’s just got a better handle on things now, but things are going much better than they were last year. His grades are up, he can handle ghosts without much trouble and he even has hobbies again. He talks to his friends more, too.

He does miss them, Wes most of all, but things are good.

This is why when Wes asks him to come and visit, he doesn’t hesitate to say yes.

Wes picks him up from the airport, and they drive to campus together. Danny meets Wes’s roommate, briefly. He’s a tall, nerdy-looking dude called Kevin who, after shaking hands with Danny, immediately excuses himself. Apparently, Wes has convinced him to go stay at his girlfriend's apartment for the next three days.

“You’re here,” Wes says with a big grin after Kevin leaves, looking him up and down. “You’re actually here.”

Danny feels a little self-conscious. He’s dressed in ripped jeans and a red hoodie and he’s tired and frumpled-looking from the flight. Still, he grins back.

“Yeah, Wesley Leslie.”

Wes steps forward, pulls him close and kisses him. They make out for a little bit, but when they end up on the bed Wes pulls away.

“Sorry,” he says.

“Don’t apologize,” Danny says. He makes a face. “I probably reek.”

“Nah, you smell fine,” Wes says. As if to prove his point, he presses his face into Danny’s hair and inhales. “Like ectoplasm and that terrible body wash you use. I missed it. I’m just… I dunno. Tired.”

“You don’t have to explain yourself, Wes,” Danny says.

Wes smiles. “You’re the best.”

Wes takes Danny to a party at a friend’s place. Danny’s never seen Wes drink before, but it’s a habit he’s picked up here. He doesn’t get sloshing drunk, or anything, but tipsy enough that he gets touchy.

Not just with Danny; with everyone.

Someone tells him a joke, and he puts an arm around their shoulder and laughs. He hugs everyone. He stands closer to people than usual. At one point, he kisses a girl on the cheek after she offers him some chips.

Danny tries not to be jealous. He’s three beers into a buzz and talking to Wes’s friends, and they’re nice and seemingly happy that he’s here: Wes talks about him, they tell him, a _lot_. That warms up Danny’s cheeks.

But he’s got ghost hearing, so he hears other people’s conversations, too.

“Poor boy,” he hears a girl say. She’s across the room, but looking at him. “He doesn’t even know.”

And a guy, talking to Wes a little later: “You wanna get out of here?”

“I’m here with my boyfriend, man,” Wes says, pushing the guy a little. He’s laughing. “Don’t do that.”

A little later still, he hears someone say the words ‘Weston’ and ‘easy’ in the same sentence and sees red.

Danny can’t help it. He’s straight-up not having a good time. He stomps on out of there, and Wes isn’t far behind. Danny ignores Wes’s attempts to put an arm around his waist and doesn’t say anything until they’ve made it back to Wes’s dorm.

“What’s wrong?” Wes asks. The crisp January air has sobered him up a little, but not completely.

“Why are they talking about you like that?” Danny asks. He’s not sure if he’s angry _at_ Wes or _for_ Wes.

“Like what?”

“Like…” Danny knows he shouldn’t say it. He knows, when he opens his mouth, that he’s being an asshole, that he’s starting a fight. He says it anyway. “Like you’re a slut.”

Wes sighs; pinches the bridge of his nose. The anger Danny expected isn’t there.

“I slept with this girl, end of last year,” he says. “I mean, well, I couldn’t get it up. I started crying about you. She spread it around.”

Danny's shoulders sag.

"You slept with someone?"

“We were broken up,” Wes says. He doesn’t sound defensive. “I thought we were, anyway. Weren’t we?”

“I guess so,” Danny says. “But you didn’t tell me.”

“Should I have?”

“I mean,” Danny says. “Yeah.”

“I’m sorry.”

All this drama. Danny’s sick of it. Their relationship used to be so easy--nothing around it ever was, but they at least were. He wants it to be like that again.

“You didn’t cheat on me,” Danny says. “It’s not that bad.”

“But you’re upset.”

“A little.” Danny shrugs. “I’ll get over it.”

“Danny-”

“It’s petty jealousy,” Danny says. “My problem. Not yours.”

He does feel jealous. And a little insecure. They were only broken up for three months, and Wes was already seeing other people? Was it that easy?

He shuts his thoughts up because clearly, it wasn’t.

“Hey,” Wes says. He pulls Danny into his arms and this time, Danny hugs him back. “I’m still sorry, even if I don’t have to be.”

“Okay,” Danny says. “I’m not mad.”

He really isn’t. It’s kinda surprising.

"I love you," Wes says. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too," Danny answers.

"I have to tell you something else," Wes says. "I'm back in therapy."

"Are you okay?" Danny asks.

"Yeah. I just. I kind of… wasn't eating, start of this year. I'm not sure why. I kinda feel like maybe I was punishing myself for coming back here, leaving you alone." Wes pauses. "It was stupid."

Danny frowns. He knows of Wes's complicated history with food, but it was a thing of the past even when they first got together.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't wanna put it on you," Wes says. "You've been. Y'know… Working on yourself. You seemed good. Happy."

"So?" Danny hugs Wes tighter. " _Never_ think you can't talk to me."

"Noted," Wes says. "I don't know. I also just kind of felt like it wasn't a phone sort of conversation, and then we couldn't get together over thanksgiving, and Christmas didn't happen, and then it seemed dumb to even bring it up…"

"But you're okay now?" Danny asks, because that's what's important. "You're not… still?"

"I got anxiety medication," Wes says. "We're still figuring out the dosage. That's why I didn't wanna…" Wes frowns. "I don't really want to, alone, either."

"Okay," Danny says. "That's completely fine. You know that, right?"

"Yeah," Wes says. "Of course I know that."

Later, when they're in bed, Danny thinks that it's been a while since Wes has been that open with him. Wes is always taking care of Danny, but Danny's trying to take care of himself now, so Wes can take care of himself, too. Did he ever even think to, before?

Besides, maybe it's Danny's turn to take care of Wes as well. Just a bit. Not too much.

It's _good._

Isn't it?

Are they less dysfunctional, or more so?

_Maybe I was punishing myself for coming back here, leaving you alone._

_Fuck_ , Danny thinks.

He remembers the early days of their relationship, and how joined at the hip they were. They started out domestic, Danny would tell people. Wes was staying with him when they got together (Wes's father was sick, and his parents didn't want him home), and it was easy to fall into the patterns of a couple living together.

_But we weren’t domestic. We were just co-dependent._

They manage to make the next two days fun. Wes shows him around campus, and they hide away in Wes's dorm and watch bad movies. When Danny has to leave he thinks, again, that they'll be okay. It doesn't stop him from worrying, but...

They're working on it.


	4. Summer two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things go back to normal. And then they don't.

Things go back to normal once again, as they always do.

But they're different, too. Danny doesn't know if it's Wes's therapy, his own steps in the right direction, or both, but they talk more about the things that bother them, and they're not texting every second they're not together, either.

 _Goodbye, co-dependence._ (It's not that simple, of course, but Danny pretends it is.)

Their summer is much the same as last year.

Until it isn't.

Danny doesn't know how the fight starts. It's one of those fights where one moment they're just talking, and then they're both shouting, and neither can tell how it escalated so fast.

They're driving. Wes is behind the wheel. They're supposed to head over to Tucker's place for a barbeque, but Wes looks like he has half a mind to kick Danny out of the car and go back home.

"So that's just it, then?" Wes says. "We're not even gonna talk about it?"

"What is there to talk about?" Danny asks. "It's not happening!"

"I'm glad you've decided for both of us."

"You didn't want them, either!"

"Well, maybe now I do!" Wes says. "Okay? Maybe I don't want our entire lives to be about _ghosts_. Maybe I want-" He stops, shakes his head.

"You think I _want_ my entire life to be about ghosts?" Danny asks. " _You're_ the one who wants to study them for a living! I wanted to be an astronaut! I wanted to leave Amity Park! I wanted to live in an apartment in some big city with way too expensive a rent and fuckin'... I don't know! I wanted to live my life and make mistakes and figure out marriage and kids and everything as I went along! But those are not luxuries I have anymore!"

"You're not even trying!"

"I _can't_!" Danny shouts.

Wes white-knuckles the steering wheel and says nothing.

"Why is it that every time we're good, something fucking happens?" Danny asks. "Why do we do this? What's the point?"

He means _of fighting_ , but when it's out he realizes how it sounds.

Wes's expression has gone surprisingly void of emotion.

"Oh," he says.

Danny feels tears in his eyes. "That's not what I-"

"Danny," Wes says. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

"But you're right. There's always something." Wes sighs. "Maybe there really isn't a point."

"We're not doing this," Danny says. "We're _not_ breaking up because we can't agree over having _kids_."

"That's not why, and you know it," Wes says.

"We're doing _good,_ " Danny says. "Aren't we?"

"I don't know," Wes says. "I just feel like… We got together so young."

"Please don't do this," Danny says, and all the hard work falls away. He feels like he's sixteen again. Like he needs Wes to be strong for him; to make things okay. "Please don't."

"I don't want to."

"Then _don't_."

Wes swallows. He glances away from the road to look at Danny.

"I… Okay." He reaches over and grabs Danny's hand. "Oka-"

"Watch out!" Danny shouts. He can see his breath.

The deer comes out of nowhere, glowing and green and obviously dead already (they're in the middle of town. What's it even doing here?), but instinct takes over. Wes swerves to avoid it.

Right into oncoming traffic.

A pick-up truck rams into the front of Wes's car. They spin around a couple of times, tires skidding across the asphalt, before they come to a halt. The side of Danny's head slams into the window and there's an audible crack as the glass splinters, but Danny barely even feels it. His mind is occupied with _WesHumanFragile._

In life, there are moments which seem to pass you right by. There are also moments which last forever.

They sit in silence for the longest second of Danny's life. Then, Wes turns to him with wide eyes.

"Are you okay?!"

"Am _I_ okay?" Danny asks. "I'm a _ghost_ , you dumbass!"

"But Danny, your head…"

Danny reaches up, feels the cool blood (never hot, not when it's his) dripping down his temple, and shrugs.

"I'll be fine," he promises. He's not healing yet, but it'll kick in soon. "And you?"

"I'm not hurt," Wes says, patting himself down. "Just… Jesus. What the fuck?!" He slams his fist against the steering wheel.

Danny turns in his seat. There's no sign of the deer now. The other car seems to have sped off.

Mother _fucker_.

"Scary eyes," Wes says, an automatic warning even though there's nobody else around. Danny blinks them away. "We're fine. Everything's fine." Wes reaches out, takes Danny's chin in his hand, and tilts it to the side so he can inspect where Danny is bleeding. "I'd feel better if we had your parents check this out."

"Okay, sure. Just let me call Tucker that we're not gonna make it," Danny says.

Danny's fine; they both are.

Vlad is furious both at the ghost and the person who drove on and has already talked to the police _and_ Skulker, despite both the boys telling him there's no need to get the ghost hunter involved.

When they're in bed, Wes rolls over and wraps his arms around Danny.

"I think I'm having some trouble," Wes says, "With you not needing me as much."

"Oh," Danny says. "I thought you'd be happy."

"I _am_ happy," Wes says. "You're doing so well. I'm really happy. But you always needed me, and I'm afraid that… I'm afraid to be the one who needs you. I'm afraid to lose you if I start needing you more than you need me."

"I don't love you because I need you, Wes."

"Of course you don't," Wes says. "I know that."

"I really thought we were doing well."

"We are. We just need to push through. Sometimes I feel like we're still on the edge of falling back into old habits." Wes nuzzles against Danny's hair.

"Do you want kids?" Danny asks.

"I dunno. Maybe. Probably not. I just want…" Wes takes a deep breath. "I just wanna talk about the future as something we'll definitely be experiencing together."

"Let's get married," Danny says.

Wes sits up. "Seriously?" He looks shocked, but not entirely opposed.

Danny sits up, turns on the light, and looks at Wes. He's messy red hair and freckles dusted across his nose and cheeks, and stubble he hasn't bothered to shave off and a red shirt that he's kinda grown out of and _the man Danny loves_.

Danny has never been so serious in his life.

"I mean. Not _now_ , obviously. But after you graduate. We could… We should get married."

"Don't say that just to make me happy."

"I'm not."

It's true. Truth be told, Danny's been thinking about their future together for years. He's not opposed to marrying young, either: his parents married right out of college, and they've never been anything but rock-solid (they added Vlad to their relationship, but he probably would have been part of it from the start if the accident had never happened, anyway). Besides, Danny's entire life is dangerous. He's not particularly worried about dying (if it happens, it'll happen whether he stresses about it or not), but there's no harm in making sure he does all the things he wants while he can.

Like marrying Wes. That's definitely up there on the list.

"Danny," Wes says. "If this is a proposal-"

"No," Danny says quickly. He doesn't even have a ring. Wes deserves better. "It's more a… a pre-proposal? A discussion."

"Oh," Wes says. "Well, okay."

"Okay?"

"I mean, like. Yeah. I'd marry you if you did ask. Or I could ask…"

"I dunno," Danny says. "You have two more years of college left. I have one. But after, you know…"

"Definitely," Wes says. "Yes."

They don't talk about it any more than that. They don't tell people what they're planning, either, but Danny starts paying attention to places that're for rent. He pauses in front of shops when he sees rings. There's no more talk of breaking up. It seems laughable, now, that they ever could.

 _'If_ we get married' turns into ' _when_ we get married'. ' _If_ we move in together' turns into ' _when_ ', too. The future doesn't have any ' _ifs_ ' anymore.

They could get through anything, Danny thinks. They know what they're moving towards.


	5. Junior year

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny graduates.

Wes's work-load picks up, and so does Danny's--both for his classes and the amount of ghost-fighting. They don't get to talk to each other as much as they would like, but they try to find at least one hour every week when they can facetime.

Danny goes to visit Wes a couple of times and Wes comes home during breaks. They take a vacation to a haunted hotel and the ghost is definitely watching them have sex, so Danny kicks it's ass and locks it in a thermos.

It's a good year.

At the end of it, Danny graduates from his online classes--barely, but a diploma is a diploma. He starts applying for jobs before he's even fully done with his exams. He's not sure what kind of job he can do that's flexible enough to allow for Phantom to still be on the clock, but he's determined to work. Being half-ghost isn't gonna pay the bills.

"Work for me," Vlad offers. "I mean, not _me_ -me. Damon Gray needs an assistant, his last one quit to become a stay-at-home mom. Cute baby. Very fussy, apparently."

"I'm not gonna work for you, Vlad," Danny says.

"Again, not really me." Vlad gives him a look. "I might have already run it by Mr. Gray, and well… he likes the idea."

"You shouldn't have done that."

"It's not like I forced him. He's in control over there. He could have said no."

Danny says he'll think about it, fully intending on not doing that. Then, after another failed job interview, he gives Damon a call.

"Hi, Mr. Gray," he says.

"Danny! I've been expecting your call."

"This isn't because of Vlad, is it?"

"Kid, I've always liked you. You seem very smart, and your parents are professional ghost hunters. I could use someone like you."

"I'm not great at schedules," Danny says, vaguely. Better people think he's chronically tardy than that they know what he's actually doing.

"I'm aware," Damon says. "Mr. Masters said your hours would have to be… very flexible. I'm willing to work with you, within reason of course."

And that's how Danny comes to work as an assistant at Axion labs.

It’s not exactly his dream-job, but he likes it.

In the morning, he picks up Damon’s coffee, then runs through his day with him: “you have a meeting at two”, “don’t forget about that conference call”, “you have a bunch of papers to sign”.

Danny sits at his desk a lot of the time, answering phone calls and planning appointments and messing around online. He goes to whatever meetings Damon has with him, and soon finds out that besides taking notes, nobody’s opposed if he speaks up with ideas to improve whatever they’re discussing.

He’s an assistant, but it’s a job that could _lead_ somewhere. Damon started out in the position Danny's filling now. Not that Danny's sure he wants to be doing this forever (despite barely getting involved, the company is still Vlad's, and Danny doesn't wanna be _that_ guy).

But it's nice to know he has options.


	6. Summer three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny gets his own apartment. Wes is home again.

"I'm so tired," Wes complains.

He looks pretty tired. He's gotten a summer job at the Nasty Burger (why, when he's never needed or wanted one before, Danny doesn't know), and he's just gotten off a particularly busy shift. He's on Danny's bed and Danny, who's only lived in this apartment for two days and is just now sitting on the floor to unpack a box of knick-knacks, gives him a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry, babe."

"Not like it's your fault."

"You know what I mean."

"I do."

Wes turns on his side, rests his head on his hand, and looks down at Danny. Danny's place is small: one main room that doubles as his bedroom, a tiny kitchen, and a bathroom. But honestly, he loves it.

He's been eager to move out of his parents' place for a while.

It doesn’t hurt that Wes has made himself right at home; half the clothes in Danny’s closet are his, half the stuff in Danny’s bathroom is his, they went grocery shopping together last night. Danny wouldn’t hesitate to ask Wes to move in officialy if he didn’t have to go back to Wisconsin in the fall, but for the moment he might as well live here.

One more year, Danny reminds himself.

"Are you gonna unpack all night?" 

"Not _all_ night," Danny says. "But I feel like I could have been done already. _Someone's_ been distracting me."

“I’m not _that_ bad.”

“You’re pretty bad, dude,” Danny says.

Wes grins.

“Take a break. Come kiss me.”

Danny can’t deny Wes. He climbs onto the bed and straddles Wes’s lap, leaning down to lock their lips together. Wes’s hands stroke up his sides, down his back, and pull him closer.

“Do you wanna…?” he asks against Danny's lips, breathless just from this.

Danny feels a thrill up his spine; shivers. He nods and pulls his shirt up over his head, throwing it somewhere behind him before leaning down to kiss Wes again. Wes moans softly into Danny’s mouth.

Danny feels like they could melt into each other if they wanted to.

After, Wes runs his fingers through Danny’s hair while Danny draws invisible patterns on Wes’s hip, tracing the freckles there.

Moments like these are his favorite.

“Are you okay?” Wes asks, like always.

“I'm perfect,” Danny says, smiling.

“Did you not… um. Did you like it?”

Danny's smile turns into a frown. He tilts his head back to look at Wes.

It’s been a while since Wes asked him anything like that.

“Since when are you self-conscious?” he asks.

“You didn’t…” Wes says, slowly, then gestures vaguely around. “There’s no ice.”

“Oh,” Danny says. He hadn’t noticed. “I guess there isn’t.”

“Did you not come?”

“I came,” Danny says, chuckling a little. He wants to be cruder about it, point out the cum they had to clean up off his stomach, but he doesn’t wanna hurt Wes’s feelings by joking about it. “I don’t wake up floating anymore, either. Maybe I just have more control.”

“That’s good!” Wes says. “Right?”

“Yeah!” Danny says. He pauses. “I haven’t been hungry in a while, either.”

They’re both silent at that.

“I thought we’d have more time,” Wes says, finally. He sounds like he has to force the words out of his mouth. “Vlad was… what, thirty-five? And Dan-”

“I don’t wanna talk about Dan,” Danny says stiffly.

He's _nothing_ like Dan.

“I’m just saying... he looked his age.”

“I’m… I’m not that much younger than him, though.” Danny’s twenty-two, and over the last year or so he’s finally started to look like he’s out of his teens. Wes even commented on it when Danny picked him up from the airport.

_‘Somebody’s grown up.'_

“Do you feel… more ghostly?” Wes asks.

Danny has to think about it. Ultimately, he shakes his head.

“I think I feel _less_ ghostly. More stable. More in control.”

“How about sleep? Are you sleeping?”

“Yeah,” Danny says. “I don’t think I’m fully- I think we’ve got _some_ time.”

“Good,” Wes says. “...I guess I forgot we’re not gonna grow old together.”

“Does that bother you?” Danny asks. “That I’ll be… young?”

“No, but I’m not exactly thrilled, either,” Wes says honestly. “I mean, we’re gonna get some weird fucking looks if I’m eighty and you’re, like, twenty-five.”

Danny sighs. He sits up so he can kiss Wes again, then climbs out of bed.

“Where are you going?” Wes asks.

“Nowhere, but I do have more unpacking to do,” Danny tells him. “And then I have to write a summary of today’s meeting. My notes are kinda lacking.”

“So very human,” Wes says, rolling onto his back with a dramatic groan. “Too busy to cuddle your boyfriend.”

“Don’t guilt-trip me,” Danny jokes. “You said take a break! Break’s over.”

“ _Fine_ ,” Wes says. He sits up as well. “Need any help?”

“No.”

“Then I’m gonna shower.”

Danny smiles and nods. When Wes disappears into the bathroom, he shakes his head at his boyfriend’s antics, then frowns a little.

Wes is right, of course: if Danny’s aging slows now, he’s gonna be in his early twenties through most of Wes’s lifetime. They thought he’d be at least in his late thirties, maybe even early forties.

“Stop worrying!” Wes yells from the bathroom. “I don’t hear any unpacking-noises!”

Danny laughs.

He has his parents test his blood later that week and feels relieved. His cells are still splitting at a normal rate.

They’ve got time.


	7. Senior year

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Wes starts to seem like he's slipping, Danny flies out to Wisconsin to take care of him.

The year starts great but near Christmas, Wes is a mess.

Danny gathers this not from his infrequent texting or the lack of phone-calls (midterms are coming up, and last year those made Wes drop off the face of the earth completely), but from the quality of the texts he does send. There are spelling errors, sentences that make no sense at all, even a ‘how was your weekend’ sent on a Thursday.

But mostly, it’s the impersonality of it all that worries Danny. Wes doesn't behave like this, for any reason.

But now he does.

Danny hasn’t talked much to Wes’s parents since the end of the summer, when Wes’s dad walked in on Wes making out with _Phantom_ and put two and two together. He and Wes's mother very much disapprove. Danny doesn't like it, but he's not sure he blames them: they're Wes's parents, and they still remember Wes's obsession with Phantom, and ghosts in general. They've never liked it; ghosts are dangerous. Now it turns out Wes has been dating one since he was fifteen.

Would Danny really feel differently, in their shoes?

He texts Mrs. Weston now, despite all that.

_Danny: Have you talked to Wes lately?_

Uncharacteristically for her, Wes’s mother replies almost immediately. Usually, she’s happy to ignore Danny (even before this summer. She's never liked him).

_Satan: He hasn’t been returning my calls actually._

So Danny texts Wes to let him know he’s coming, and a day later he’s in Wisconsin, taking a cab to campus. Wes lives in an apartment with four roommates, friends he’s had since junior year who seem happier to see Danny than they’ve ever been.

“He hasn’t been eating,” Jake confides in him. “Not much, anyway. He seems real… depressed.”

“Where is he right now?” Danny asks. It’s clear Wes isn’t around.

“Work,” Allisa, Jake’s girlfriend, says. “He gets off in about an hour.”

Sure enough, an hour and a half later Wes comes through the front door. When he sees Danny, he looks surprised. Has he not checked his phone?

“Hey,” he says.

He sure does look like he’s lost weight. He also looks, vaguely, like he’s about to get a cold.

“Hey,” Danny says back.

“We’re heading out for dinner,” Jake says, pulling Allisa along. The third roommate, Ronan, left half an hour ago already, claiming to have a date.

“What are you doing here?” Wes asks.

“Checking on you,” Danny says. “You seemed kinda off, lately. Figured maybe I could help.”

“Help with what?” Wes asks.

“I dunno. I’ll do your laundry?” Danny offers. “Whatever you need.”

Wes laughs. It’s a short, humorless laugh. He sounds angry, kind of. He also sounds relieved.

Danny’s no stranger to feeling both ways at once.

“Don’t you have work?” Wes asks.

“Took the next three weeks off.”

By then it'll be Christmas. He'll spend the holidays catching up on work, but he can't bring himself to care.

“What about Amity?”

“They have Vlad and my parents.”

"I thought you couldn't leave for long, though."

Danny says nothing. It's true that even now, he feels vaguely anxious, in a broad sort of way. But Wes is more important than his Phantom half. He can deal.

“I’m busy, Danny. I don’t have time to entertain you,” Wes continues.

Danny tries not to feel hurt.

“That’s not why I’m here.”

Wes’s shoulders slump, and he hangs his head.

“I know. I know. I’m sorry.”

“Hey!” Danny says, alarmed at the tears dripping down Wes’s chin. “What’s wrong?”

“I dunno.”

Wes is overwhelmed, is what’s wrong.

It becomes clear almost immediately. He’s got to study for finals and he's got to work, and every time even the most minor thing happens beyond that, it seems like his brain short circuits and he panics, cries, or both.

Danny tries to make it easier on him, taking over his chores around the apartment and making him take regular water breaks when he’s cramming, but Wes still can’t seem to fully relax until he’s got his last exam behind him.

“This year’s been hard,” he admits that night. They’re in bed, and Wes is in that space between sleeping and awake where his words slur, but he’s alert enough to be coherent. “Really, really hard.”

“I know,” Danny says, thinking back on his first year of college. “It’s okay to be overwhelmed.”

“You shouldn’t have had to come here.”

“Don’t even say that,” Danny scolds him. “It’s okay for us to need each other sometimes. Just not when it's all the time.”

“Fair," Wes says. "I can’t wait until it’s over. This year, I mean. I miss Amity Park so much.”

Danny smiles.

“We’ll be home for Christmas soon.”

“Yeah, but then I’ll have to leave again,” Wes says. “I hate always leaving. I’m done.”

“You don’t wanna leave again?” Danny asks. “Not even one more time?”

“No.”

“That’s too bad,” Danny says, wondering if he’s bringing this up the wrong way. “No honeymoon then, I guess. Probably for the best. We can't really afford it.”

Wes pushes himself up on his elbows and stares at Danny with wide eyes.

“What?”

Danny reaches into his pocket, pulling out the box he’s had with him for half a year now. He was gonna ask Wes last summer, but then he figured it’d make more sense to wait until Wes was _really_ back. Now, he just wants Wes to know that it’s gonna happen.

College isn’t gonna last forever. Their future's closer than it's ever been.

“No, Danny, you idiot!” Wes shouts.

Danny drops the box, startled, then looks away, trying to hide his hurt expression.

“Oh, I-”

“Why the fuck do you think I’ve been working so much? _I_ was gonna ask _you,_ you dingus!”

Danny looks back at Wes, frowning.

“What?”

“I’ve been saving up to buy you a ring!”

“You’ve been working yourself to exhaustion for me?” Danny asks. “Dumbass. Don’t ever do that again!”

“Yeah, well,” Wes seems to be looking for words, eyes everywhere but on Danny’s face. “You ruined it.”

“Wes,” Danny says. “Fucking marry me.”

Wes looks at him, then. He smiles, not just like he's happy but like he thinks all of this is incredibly funny.

“Is that really how you’re gonna propose?" he asks. "Rude.”

Danny pushes himself up, grabs the box, and climbs out of bed to get down on one knee.

“Marry me,” he repeats. He opens the box. There’s no diamond, he couldn’t possibly afford that, but the ring’s a nice gold band with a black infinity symbol worked into the top.

“This is totally not fair, by the way,” Wes says, sitting up so he can face Danny.

“Marry me,” Danny says again.

“Of course I’ll marry you, you fucking dork,” Wes says. “Get back here.”

Danny climbs onto the bed and slips the ring onto Wes’s finger. Wes grins down at it, then kisses Danny. He falls onto his back and pulls Danny on top of him, laughing.

Danny can't stop grinning, either.

“You suck,” Wes says. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Danny says.

“My mom’s gonna hate this.”

“The horror.”

“Your parents are gonna be thrilled.”

“Definitely,” Danny says. “It’s gonna be horrible.”

“It’s gonna be amazing.”

“If you say so.”

They kiss again until their lips are numb and Ronan is banging on the wall so they’ll be quiet.

“There are other people in this house!” he shouts through the wall. “Nobody wants to hear you guys having sex at two am!”

“We’re not having sex!” Wes shouts. “We just got engaged!”

“Congratulations! Now shut up!”

Danny laughs until his cheeks hurt.

The future is bright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it. It's the end. I wrote all of this in a daze, all in one sitting. I'm gonna pass out now.
> 
> Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0RjohJZapxqJdNjwkiXUmR?si=rjEfYh2KQyq8Y3XLe61sfg


End file.
